IMC 2018: Sessions
Session 146: The Medieval Jewish Craftsmen: Fact or Fiction?
Monday 2 July 2018, 11.15-12.45
| Organiser: | Maria Stürzebecher, Kulturdirektion, Landeshauptstadt Erfurt |
|---|---|
| Moderator/Chair: | Maria Stürzebecher, Kulturdirektion, Landeshauptstadt Erfurt |
| Paper 146-a | Stones, Masons, Marks: 'Mason's Marks' and Other Signs on Medieval Jewish Gravestones Revisited (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Hebrew and Jewish Studies |
| Paper 146-b | What Do We Know about Jewish Goldsmiths and Jewish Seal Engravers in the Middle Ages? (Language: English) Index terms: Daily Life, Hebrew and Jewish Studies |
| Abstract | The significant participation of Jewish people in medieval Europe's everyday culture is common knowledge in modern Jewish Studies. We know that Jews used the same objects as Christians did - in general it is assumed that most of these objects were made by Christian craftsmen. However, written sources as well as recent archaeological findings suggest that Jewish craftsmen should be taken into consideration, too. In multidisciplinary approaches, this session focuses on new material on Jewish handicrafts. It will point out the difference between crafts essentially needed for an efficient Jewish community (such as butchers for kosher meat), and professions usually identified with - but contrary to older research not limited to - medieval guilds, for instance those of masons, goldsmiths and seal engravers. |